Read the opposing arguments from Loyal Homer and Bleacher Fan.
Every NBA team has one. That player that is steady, solid, and well-rounded. The type of guy that contributes to wins and losses in ways that statistics simply cannot capture. At this stage of the NBA playoffs, the best teams are on display. Those best teams all have an under the radar talent that contributes to the overall team’s success in myriad ways. My colleagues will introduce their favorites. I picked last in the group, but I still got the best player – Grant Hill, forward for the Phoenix Suns.
Hill is the prototype of the under the radar impact player because he doesn’t lead the team in any big time stat category, but his presence is felt in all of them. His nearly ten points per game do not lead the team. His 26 playoff assists this post-season are second only to that Steve Nash fella. He is third in rebounding on the team with 68, trailing only the much taller Amar’e Stoudemire and super-athlete Jason Richardson (by one rebound). His 83 percent shooting exhibition from the free throw line is second to Nash as well (for players with ten or more attempts).
None of those stats lead the team, yet all are impressive, and every significant statistical category is impacted.
Those are the obvious stats, but digging deeper into the world of statistics reveals Hill’s positive impact in even greater detail. I have gone on the record many times at TSD, both in published articles and in production meetings, that the addition of the plus/minus stat to professional basketball box scores is a HUGE and positive development. If you’re unfamiliar with the stat, it measures a player’s total impact while on the floor. For example, if John Doe has a -5 in the box score, then the team was five points behind the opponent while John was on the court.
It is no coincidence that the better Grant Hill does in the plus/minus category, the better the team does. In fact, at least in the playoffs, the Suns were winners as long as Grant Hill was in positive territory (with the one exception being a foul trouble related effort that limited his minutes).
The team’s first playoff game was a loss to Portland, where Hill was -5 for the game. Game two was a big win where Hill made ten of eleven field goal attempts and registered a +14. I won’t bore you with all of the game-to-game statistical goodness that is the plus/minus, but I’ll point to a couple of instances where the stat was a key indicator and best conveys Hill’s impact.
With Phoenix having lost home court advantage in the first two games to Portland, the Suns entered the Rose Garden in a must win situation. While Richardson exploded for 42 points that game, he still only mustered a +15 for his team when he was on the floor. Contrast that performance with the ever-solid Grant Hill who poured in just eight points but managed a +16 all around performance. In the series deciding game Hill’s offensive effort was even less impressive, with just three points on 1-4 shooting. But his plus/minus was off the charts at +26.
The Spurs’ series was much the same for Hill, solid performances highlighted by impressive plus/minus. He does not lead the team in scoring, rebounding, or assists. But, he does lead the team in fundamentals and hustle – the two primary necessities of any champion of under the radar skills.
Grant Hill is 37 years old. The point in his career where explosive scoring outputs are standard is long since buried. But he understands how important it is to be fundamentally sound – those are timeless abilities that not even advanced playing age can erode. For contrast, put Hill’s performances and overall approach to the game up against players from a team like the Cleveland Cavaliers. The ability to box out, to execute a half court trap, to stop the ball on a fast break… these are all skills that do not necessarily show up in the box score. But they do show up in the win column. Just ask the Cavs.
Posted by Sports Geek 
